Reel assembly



S. L. EIFRID REEL ASSEMBLY Oct. 23, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 9,1958 @iitarrzeg Oct. 23, 1962 s. L. EIFRID 3,059,765

REEL ASSEMBLY Filed May 9, 1 958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct; 23, 1962 s. L.EIFRID 3,059,765

REEL ASSEMBLY Filed May 9, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 WZKM 3,059,765PatentedQct. 23, 1962 3,059,765 REEL ASSEMBLY Stephen L. Eifrid, OakLawn, Ill. (641 6th Piece, La Grange, ill.) Filed May 9, 1958, Ser. No.734,261 12 Claims. ((31. 206-59) This invention relates to a reelassembly and mor particularly to a reel assembly wherein a core barrelis mounted between two heads which are secured together by attachingmeans extending therebetween.

An important use for reels is to package windable products such asflexible hose, welding rod, magnet wire, piano wire, insulated wire,chain and many other similar products. These products are mounted on thereel and shipped to the purchaser who unwinds the product and returnsthe reel to the manufacturer or discards the reel. Of course, the mostconvenient method is to dispose of the reel as waste, but this isimpractical unless the cost of the reel is negligible. The mostdesirable package is one that can be simply formed from an inexpensivematerial so that it can economically be used as a disposable package.Many materials are used for constructing reels including corrugatedpaper board, which is probably the most inexpensive material andsimplest to cut and shape, thus providing the lowest cost reel. However,it has been difficult to form a satisfactory corrugated paper board reelbecause it is not as strong as other reel material such as wood or metaland requires a considerable amount of material and labor to build asatisfactorily strong reel.

The present invention provides a reel construction which is easilyadapted to the use of corrugated paper board in a manner which utilizesthe board to structural advantage to provide a strong reel with aminimum amount of material and labor. Basically, this invention consistsof a core barrel mounted between two heads which are secured together byattaching means extending between the heads. The attaching means mayconsist of bolts or lengths of wire extending between heads and securedto the heads to hold the reel assembly together. A further featureembodied in the present invention provides notches on the ends of thecore barrels which engage in corresponding slots in the heads so thatthe core barrel is securely fixed in place between the heads againstboth rotation and lateral slipping.

In order to provide additional strength, a modification of the presentreel assembly includes a reinforcing plate mounted in each head. Thispermits the use of a material which is not adaptable as practical foruse as a complete head because of its cost or workability, but which isstronger than corrugated board and combines with the board to form astrong reel. The construction of the present invention is inexpensivelyformed from a minimum of material and a minimum of labor, and fur ther,it can be constructed to receive a peripheral cover, which, with theheads, form a complete shipping package without the need of anadditional carton or container.

Other and further advantages and features of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description and the figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reel assembly illustrating oneembodiment of the present invention with the cover partially unwound;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the core barrel construction of the reelassembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the core barrel of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view of an alternate core barrel construction;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an unfolded head of the reel assembly of FIG.1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the reel assembly of FIG. 1;

'FIG. 7 is a plan view of an unfolded head of a second embodiment of thereel assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the head of FIG. 7 shown in its foldedposition;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a reinforcing insert plate which is usedin conjunction with the head of FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of an unfolded head illustrating a variation ofthe embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the folded head of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a head illustrating a third embodiment of thereel assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view taken along lines 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a head illustrating a variation of theconstruction of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 15-15 of FIG. 14.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail several embodiments with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles fthe invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to theembodiments illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed outin the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention will be describedin detail. The general construction is illustrated in FIG. 1 with afirst embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, a second embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 7 through 11 and a third embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 12 through 15.

'In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6 the reel assembly 10is seen to comprise a pair of heads 11 spaced apart with a core barrel12 mounted therebetween. The head-s are secured together by attachingmeans 14 and a cover 15 is wound around the periphery of the heads 11and extends therebetween to form a complete package.

The heads 11 are octagonal in shape with cavities 16 formed alongalternate edges for the attachment of the cover 15. The heads areprovided with center holes 18 to permit mounting of the complete reelassembly 10 on a shaft or jig to facilitate winding and unwinding. Aplurality of holes 19 are arranged equidistant from the center hole 18adjacent the periphery of the core barrel 12 and inside of the peripheryof the core barrel so that the attaching means 14 may be mounted in theholes 19. The attaching means 14 extend between the heads to secure theheads together against the core barrel and strengthen the assemblyadjacent the core barrel. The inner surface of each head 11 is providedwith arcu'ate slots 20 as seen in FIG. 5. These slots 20 are shaped assegments of the circumference of a circle of the same diameter as thecore barrel and are of a thickness equivalent to the core barrel 12.These slots 2t) accommodate the notched cores as will be described belowso that the cores are seated in place against rotation or lateralslipping with respect to the heads.

The core barrel construction is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Basicallyit is a hollow cylindrical section formed of a suitably strong materialsuch as fiberboard, wood, metal. Similarly the thickness of the corebarrel may be varied depending upon the material used and the strengthdesired. The ends of the core barrel are at right angles to thecylindrical section and are notched by dadoing or milling, as at 21, toprovide ears 22 which mate with the slots 20 in the heads 11.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification of the core barrel construction inwhich the core barrel 24 is formed from a roll of material such as acorrugated paper board log. In this case, the notches 25 are of greaterwidth and also the cars 26 are of greater width. This constructionrequires a modification of the slots 20 of the head so as to receivethese larger size ears. The advantage of the core barrel of FIG. 4 isthat an inexpensive material such as corrugated paper board may beutilized to replace a more expensive but stronger material.

The attaching means 14 are best illustrated in FIG. 6 in which tie rods23 are shown extending from one head to the other. These tie rods may bebolts or simple metal rods or wires. They are mounted in the holes 19 ofthe heads so as to be in contact with the core barrel 12, therebyrigidifying and adding strength to the core barrel. In the embodimentillustrated, the tie rods are bolts 28 having heads 29 and threaded ends30 upon which nuts 31 are attached. The heads 29 and nuts 31 are eachmounted in reinforcing disks 32 in the holes 19 in the heads 11. Thesereinforcing disks 32 have annular flanges 34 extending over the portionsof the heads 11 adjacent the holes '19 to seat the reinforcing disks 32in the holes and prevent their passage therethrough. The disks 32 haverecessed portions 35 extending into the holes 19 and having centralholes 36 to accommodate the tie rods 28 but of lesser diameter than theheads 29 and nuts 31. Thus the tie rods may be secured in thereinforcing disks 32 and the nuts 31 tightened to securely attach theheads of the reel to the core barrel 12. The depth of the recessedportions 35 is approximately equal to or greater than the thickness ofthe bolt heads 29 and the nuts 31 so that the heads and nuts will notextend into the plane of the outer surface of the reel heads 11. Thispermits the unobstructed stacking of the reel assemblies and alsopermits the mounting of a plurality of assemblies without obstruction ofone reel by the bolt heads 29 or nuts 31 of an adjacent reel.

It is to be understood that although a nut and bolt arrangement isillustrated in the preferred embodiment, the present invention is notintended to be so limited. A simple rod could be used which is threadedat both ends for the receipt of a nut at each end. Another possibilityis to use a common nail with a wedging nut such as the commerciallyavailable Tinnerman Speed-Nut. An even simpler construction results fromthe use of a length of wire with a Tinnerman Speed-Nut attached at eachend. Any of these constructions or similar constructions may be utilizeddepending on the strength required, the particular materials available,and the cost of material and labor for each construction.

The cover 15 illustrated in FIG. 1 provides a compact package withoutrequiring additional material other than the length of materialnecessary to form the cover itself. Thus, the heads 11 serve theadditional function of providing a part of the outer package, conservingmaterial, labor and shipping weight. The particular cover constructionillustrated in FIG. 1 is clearly described in the co-pending patentapplication, Serial Number 722,097, filed March 17, 1958, and entitledReel Assembly and Method of Constructing Same. The cover 15 has segments38 of widths equal to the distance between heads 11 and lengths equal tothe length of the edges of the heads 11. The two end segments 39 areeach half as long as the other segments 33 so as to combine to extendacross one side of the assembly 10. The end segments 39 and alternateintermediate segments 23 are provided with tabs 40 foldable to extendinto the cavities 16 of the heads 11. These tabs have tapered edges 41to facilitate insertion. The cover .15 is secured in place on theassembly by simply taping or stitching the end segments 39 together. Itis seen from FIG. 1 that the segments 38 of the cover which do not havethe tabs 41 attached thereto extend slightly beyond the face of theheads 11. These extensions 42 facilitate the stacking of a plurality ofreels by interlocking with the adjacent reels 4 to prevent sliding andthereby permitting the stacking of a number of reels in one verticalstack.

The heads 11 of the reel assembly 10 of the present invention may beformed in any one of a number of ways. A particular embodiment isillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 wherein the head is inexpensively andeasily formed from a single length of foldable material such ascorrugated paper board. The length is shaped with a central octagonalportion 44 which has a periphery identical to the periphery of thefinished head 11. Extending from opposite edges of the center portion 44are outer portions 45 double scored at their juncture with the centerportion and shaped as half of the octagonal center portion so that whenwhen the outer portions 45 are folded back along the central portion,their edges will be aligned with the edges of the center portion. Eachouter portion is provided with an end flap 46 double scored along thejuncture so as to be foldable inwardly to lie along the outer portions.These end flaps 46 extend approximately a distance equal to one-half thelength of an edge of the octagonal head 11 so that they will extend tothe ends of the top and bottom edges 48 of the outer portions. Side tabs49 are formed from the material between the diagonal edges of the centerportion 44 and outer portions 45. These side tabs 49 are cut along thediagonal edge of the center portion 44 and are scored along the juncturewith the edge of the outer portion 45 so as to be foldable therealong.The outer tips 50 of the side tabs 49 are cut away so as not tointerfere with the attaching holes 19 in the head 11. The completelyfolded head 11 is illustrated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 5. Thisconstruction utilizes a maximum amount of the length of the material,which would normally be wasted when cutting the head from a singlelength. It is also apparent from FIG. 5 that the cavities 16 illustratedin FIG. 1 are provided along the diagonal sides of the head of FIG. 5.These cavities are between the folded side tabs 49 and the octagonalcenter portion 44. The slots 20 referred to and described above areformed in the outer portions 45 which combine to form the inner face ofthe reel head 11. The center hole 18 is formed in the center portion 44and also similar holes 51 are formed in the center of the juncture ofthe outer portions 45 in the end flaps 46 so that when folded, the holes51 will mate with the hole 18. Similarly, the attachment means receivingholes 19 are formed in the central portion 44 and mating holes 52 areformed in the outer portions 45, also holes 53 are formed at thejuncture of the outer portions 45 and end flaps 46 to mate with theholes 19. The holes 19 in the central portion are of a larger diameterthan the holes 52 in the outer portions so that the recessed reinforcingdisks 32 will extend through the holes 19 but not the holes 52. Theholes 53 at the juncture of the outer portion and the end flaps areformed with two segments of different diameters. The segment in theouter portion 45 is of lesser diameter than the segment in the end flaps46 so that when the end flaps are folded over the reinforcing disks 32will extend through the segments in the end flaps but not through thesegments in the outer portions. Thus, the recessed portions 35 of thedisks 32 seat against the outer portions 45 and the attaching means 14are supported thereby.

In the embodiment illustrated, the outer portions 45 form the inner faceof the head 11. If desired, the head can be reversed so that the outerportions 45 become the outer face of the head. In this case, the slots26 would be formed in the center portion 44 and the holes 52 and 53 inthe outer portions 45 would be of a larger diameter than the holes 19 inthe center portion 44.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illus- .trated in FIGS.7 through 11. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1through 6 except that the construction of the head is modified. FIGS. 7and 8 illustrate a head 69* formed from a square blank of material suchas corrugated paper board. The central portion 61 of this blank isscored to form an octagonal periphery having dimensions identical to theperiphery of the finished head. Extending from the diagonal sides of theoctagonal base portion 61 are corner flaps 62 and extending from thehorizontal and vertical sides are rectangular side flaps 64 of a widthsubstantially one-half of the corresponding width of the base portion61. The junctures of the corner flaps and side flaps with the baseportion 61 are double scored to permit the flaps to be folded over alongthe base portion. The side flaps 64 mate when folded over to form asquare open area 63 (shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 7) for the mountingof an insert plate as will be described. The corner flaps 62 are eachthe shape of one-quarter of the base portion and are folded over on topof the side flaps 64 to mate with each other and completely cover thearea of the head. This is illustrated in FIG. 8.

It will be apparent that, like the head of FIGS. 1 to 5, the head 60 ofFIGS. 7 and 8 provides peripheral openings to receive the cover flaps4'0 when the parts are folded to complete the head as shown in FIG. 8.Thus, the alternating corner flaps 62 overlie the interventing flaps 64and cooperate therewith to define recesses or slots openings radiallyand outwardly to receive the cover flaps the same as the recesses 16 ofFIG. 1.

The octagonal base portion 61 is provided with a central hole 66identical to the hole 18 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 6 and theouter tip 68 of each corner flap 62 is cut away to form a quarter of acircle of the same diameter as the hole 66 so that when the corner flapsare folded over, the tips 68 will mate with the hole 66. The octagonalbase 61 is also provided with slots 69 for receipt of the notched corebarrel as described above and also is provided with attaching meansholes 74 similar to those described above. Also the corner flaps areprovided with disk receiving holes 71 which are aligned with the holes70 in the octagonal base 61. However, the holes '71 in the corner flapsare of a larger diameter than the holes 70 in the octagonal base so thatthe disks described above will extend through the holes 71 and will seatagainst the base portion 61. The completely folded head 60 isillustrated in FIG. 8.

The open area 63 formed between the folded side ilaps 64 is provided forthe mounting of a reinforcing plate 72 such as that illustrated in FIG.9. This plate is square and of a thickness approximately the same as thethickness of the flaps 64 so as to permit neat folding of the head. Thisplate is provided to increase the strength of the head and therefore isof a material of greater strength than the remainder of the head such asheavier test corrugated board, wood, metal or a .hardbo-ard such ascommercial Tecwood, Masonite or Ply-Veneer. The plate 72 has a centralhole 74 aligned with the central hole 66 of the head and has attachingmeans receiving holes 75 overlying the holes 74) of the octagonal base61 of the head. These holes 75 are of approximately the same diameter asthe holes 70.

A modification of the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 is illustrated inFIGS. 10 and 11 which is constructed to receive a reinforcing plate 72identical to that shown in FIG. 9. This head construction 80 has acentral octagonal base portion 81 formed identical to the base portion61 of the embodiment of FIG. 7 with a central hole 83, attaching meansreceiving holes 89 and slots 98. The head 80 is similarly provided withcorner flaps 82 and side flaps 84. However, the construction of theseflaps differs from that of the embodiment of FIG. 7 in that the cutlines 85 between the flaps are not horizontal and vertical but arerather perpendicular to the diagonal edges of the octagonal base 81. Thetips 86 of the side flaps 84 are cut away so that the side flaps willmate when they are folded over. These side flaps are of the same widthas the side flaps 64 of the reel 60 of FIG. 7 and similarly form asquare open area 87 (shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 10) for the receiptof the reinforcing plate 9. The corner flaps 82 are formed with cutawaytips 86 and attaching means holes 83 identical to and to serve the samefunction as the tips 68 and holes 71 of the embodiment of FIG. 7. Thecompletely folded head 30 of the embodiment of FIG. 10 is illustrated inFIG. 11.

As in the heads 11 and 60 of FIGS. 1 and 7, the cover flaps 82 fold overthe flap 84 and cooperate therewith to define recesses or cavitiesopening radially and outwardly from the head to receive the cover flaps40.

The assembly of the reels of FIGS. 1 through 11 is easily accomplishedby folding the head, stapling the head portions together if desired,placing the heads on the ends of the core barrel and securing theattaching means in place.

The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 11 provide reels whichmay be formed from an inexpensive foldable material such as corrugatedpaper board in a manner providing maximum strength so that these reelsmay replace existing wood and metal reels and more complicated andexpensive corrugated board reels. Sufficient strength is provided byusing only a minimum of material so that these reels are much lessexpensive to manufacture and therefore more adaptable to disposable usethan even existing corrugated paper board reels. Further, if additionalstrength is required, the embodiments utilizing a reinforcing plate maybe utilized with a resulting high strength without the use of additionalmaterials except for the plate. The reels can be shipped in adisassembled condition to minimize shipping and storage space.

A third embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 12through 15. This embodiment modifies only the head construction. Theparticular attaching means and the core barrel construction areidentical to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6.

In FIGS. 12 and 13 the head is formed from a material such as doublethickness corrugated paper board. As illustrated, this head 90 is formedwith a circular periphery, but this may be varied as desired. Thecentral hole 91 and attaching means receiving holes 92 are formedidentical to the corresponding holes in the previous embodiments and thecore barrel receiving slots 93 are formed with the same curvature,length and width as the above described slots but as seen in FIG. 13these slots 93 are cut in only the first or inner thickness 94 of thereel 90 with the outer thickness 95 remaining intact. With thisconstruction, the rigidity and strength of the peripheral portion 96 ofthe reel will not be greatly reduced by the cutting of the slots 93. Ithas been found by eX- periment that a double thickness corrugated paperboard head can be inexpensively and easily construced that will providesufiicient strength for most practical purposes.

The modification of FIGS. 14 and 15 provides a head 10%) formed from amaterial such as Wood, metal, hardboard or any other suitable material.It is formed with a central hole 101, attaching means holes 102 and corebar rel receiving slots 1M similar to the holes and slots of theembodiment of FIG. 12. However, in this modification the slots 1434extend completely through the material. The strength and rigidity of theperipheral portions of the heads is provided by the spaces between slots104 and when one of the materials mentioned above is used, sufiicientstrength is provided for most practical purposes.

The head constructions of the embodiment of FIGS. 12 through 15, whenutilized in conjunction with the previous described core barrels andattaching means, provide strong yet simple and inexpensive reelassemblies which are lightweight in comparison with existing reels andare especially adaptable for disposable use. They can be easilyassembled without the need of special machinery or skilled labor at theparticular job sight and similarly can be easily disassembled anddisposed of by the ultimate user.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a reel assembly, the combination of a pair of spaced heads formedfrom lengths of foldable material and a core barrel mounted between theheads and secured to the heads, each of said heads comprising: anoctagonal base portion; side flaps extending from spaced edges of saidbase portion and foldable over on the base portion and into a commonplane, the width of each side flap being less than half thecorresponding width of the base portion so as to form an open area insaid plane and between said side flaps when the flaps are folded over onthe base portion; a reinforcing plate mounted within said open area andlying in said plane; and corner flaps extending from the other alternateedges of said base portion and folded over on the reinforcing plate tohold said plate in the head.

2. In a reel assembly, the combination of a pair of spaced heads formedfrom lengths of foldable material and a core barrel mounted between theheads and secured to the heads, each of said heads comprising: anoctagonal base portion; side flaps extending from alternate edges ofsaid base portion and foldable over on the base portion and into acommon plane, the outer edge of each side flap being parallel with theadjacent edge of the base portion and the width of each side flap beingless than half the corresponding width of the base portion, the edges ofthe side flaps mating when folded over to form a square open areatherebetween', a square reinforcing plate lying in said plane withinsaid open area and filling the area; and corner flaps extending from theother alternate edges of said base portion and folded over on thereinforcing plate to hold said plate in the head.

3. In a reel assembly, the combination of a pair of spaced heads formedfrom a square blank of foldable material and a core barrel mountedbetween the heads and secured to the heads, each of said headscomprising: an octagonal base portion; rectangular side flaps extendingfrom alternate edges of said base portion and foldable over on the baseportion and into a common plane, the Width of each side flap beingsubstantially half the corresponding width of the base portion so that,when folded over, the side flaps will mate to form a square open areatherebetween; a square reinforcing plate lying in said plane Within saidopen area and filling the area; and corner flaps extending from theother alternate edges of the base portion, each corner flap being shapedas one quarter of the base portion so that the corner flaps mate whenfolded over on the base portion to completely cover the base portion andreinforcing plate.

4. A reel assembly having, in combination, an elongated core barrelhaving axial projections spaced angularly around each of its ends, apair of spaced generally flat heads disposed in parallel relation atopposite ends of said core barrel and having cavities opening radiallyand outwardly at angularly spaced points around their peripheries, eachof said heads having axially opening recesses formed in their opposedinwardly facing surfaces and spaced apart in an annular series toreceive said projections on the barrel and thereby fix the angularpositions of the heads relative to each other and the barrel to disposeand retain said peripheral cavities of the heads in a predeterminedangular relation, an elongated cover extending around said peripheriesof said heads and having tabs spaced along its length and fitting intosaid cavities when the latter are in said predetermined relation, andelongated fastening elements extending between said heads and throughsaid core and having portions engaging the heads to hold the heads andcore in assembled relation.

5. A reel assembly having, in combination, a core, a pair of spacedgenerally flat heads disposed in parallel relation at opposite ends ofsaid core and secured to the core, each of said heads being from sheetsof foldable material and having a base portion and a plurality of outerportions secured to and angularly spaced around the base portion andfolded back onto the base portion to strengthen the head and cooperatewith other parts of the head underlying the outer portions to formcavities opening radially and outwardly at angularly spaced pointsaround the periphery of the head, and a cover extending around theperipheries of said heads and having tabs fitting into said peripheralcavities of the heads.

6. A reel assembly having, in combination, an elongated core, a pair ofspaced generally flat heads having similar regular polygonal peripheriesand secured in parallel relation to opposite ends of said corecorresponding straight edges of the peripheries lying in the sameplanes, and an elongated cover wrapped around said head peripheries andhaving a plurality of fiat sections separating the heads and each lyingin a different one of said planes and against the straight peripheraledges which lie in the same plane, alternate ones of said sections ofsaid cover terminating adjacent said heads and the intervening sectionsprojecting outwardly beyond both covers to form extensions to facilitatestacking of a plurality of reels side by side by interlocking withadjacent reels.

7. For use with an elongated cover adapted to extend around theperiphery of a reel and having tabs projecting laterally from oppositesides of the cover and adapted to fit into peripheral cavities in thereel, the combination of an elongated core and a pair of spacedgenerally fiat heads secured in parallel relation against opposite endsof said core and each formed from foldable material and having a baseportion and a plurality of outer portions secured to and angularlyspaced around the periphery of the base portion and folded back onto thebase portion to strengthen the head and cooperate with other parts ofthe head underlying the outer portions to form cavities opening radiallyand outwardly at regularly spaced points around the periphery of thehead to receive said tabs of said cover.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which each of said base portion is ofregular polygonal shape, said outer portions extend from opposite sidesof said base portion and are shaped as a half of the base portion witheach outer portion double scored at its junction with the base portionso as to be foldable over upon the base portion, and side tabs disposedbetween said base and outer portions and adjacent the juncture edge ofthese portions in the folded positions of the parts and connected to oneof such portions while being disconnected from the other portions, theside tabs separating the base and outer portions and cooperating withsaid other portions to form said cover tab receiving cavities.

9. The combination of claim 7 in which each of said base portions is ofregular polygonal shape and said outer portions extend from oppositesides of said base portion and are shaped as a half of the base portionwith each outer portion double scored at its junction with the baseportion so as to be foldable over upon the base portion.

10. A reel having, in combination, a pair of spaced flat polygonal headseach having at least two layers of foldable material secured together atspaced points around the periphery of the head and adjacent alternatingedges of the polygon while remaining disconnected at the interveningedges to form cavities opening radially and outwardly at the periphery,a core secured to and extending between said head pieces, and aperipheral polygonal cover having the same number of sides as said headsand formed from a strip of foldable material of a width equalapproximately to the spacing between the heads and a length equalapproximately to the circumference of said head peripheries, said coverencircling said heads and alternate sides of the cover having flapsprojecting from their opposite edges and fitting into said cavities tohold the cover assembled to the heads and to cooperate with the headsand said core to form a rigid reel construction.

ll. A reel having, in combination, a pair of flat heads connected inspaced parallel relation by a core and each formed of at least twolayers of foldable material defining cavities opening radially andoutwardly at angularly spaced points around the periphery of the head, acover formed of a strip of foldable material of a width equalapproximately to the spacing between said heads and a length equalapproximately to the circumference of said peripheries of the heads,said cover encircling said heads and having flaps projecting from spacedpoints along opposite edges of the cover and fitting into said cavities,and means on each of said heads securing said layers of folda'blematerial together adjacent the periphery of the head and between eachpair of said cavities whereby the heads are strengthened at theirperipheries and cooperate with the flaps and cover to form a rigidstructure.

12. A reel having, in combination, an elongated core terminating atopposite ends in radially and outwardly projecting flanges which extendaround the circumference of the core, said flanges each being formed ofa plurality of layers of flat sheet material defining cavities whichopen radially and outwardly at the periphery of the flange at angularlyspaced points around the core, an elongated cover spanning said flangesand extending around said peripheries thereof with flaps projecting fromopposite side edges of the cover at spaced points and fitting into saidcavities, and means on each of said flanges securing said layerstogether adjacent the outer periphery of the flange and between eachpair of cavities therein so that the flanges are strengthened at theirouter peripheries and cooperate with said flaps and cover to form arigid structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,052,303 Aven Feb. 4, 1913 2,115,481 Clemmons Apr. 26, 1938 2,527,842Mullaney Oct. 31, 1950 2,582,597 McCaskie Jan. 15, 1952 2,652,992 TuckerSept. 22, 1953 2,724,538 Schweich Nov. 22, 1955 2,824,707 Kennedy Feb.25, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 322,643 Great Britain Dec. 12, 1929 339,416Great Britain Dec. 11, 1930

